20
JuanONJuan
by Rosette Correa
Moving to Canada is a
dream come true for most
immigrants. The opportunity
to make better lives for their
families in another country,
and being able to help those
they have left behind in their
countries of origin, is part of
that dream. While a number
of people come to Canada
with careers in the fields they
pursued, most immigrants
work in areas that are not
related to their previous jobs,
and find it challenging to
transition into those jobs.
Noel Trinidad f ound
the initial transition into the
work force challenging, but
because of perseverance and
skills training, he was able
to pursue his work in the
information technology (IT)
industry in the Philippines
and now, here in BC. He
earned his MBA from
International Academy of
Management & Economics,
and earned his Bachelor in
Industrial Psychology from
the Polytechnic University of
the Philippines, and he took
modular classes in Computer
Programming. He and his
family moved to Canada
in August 2012, and has gone
through the journey to pursue
a career in the IT industry. He
currently works as a Work
Leader/Scheduler/Dispatcher
in Customer Metering for BC
Hydro, and has been working
with agencies to help others
transition into their careers
here in BC.
PNT: What were your
expectations in terms of
employment when you
came here?
I had an illustrious
career with Accenture – a
global company, as an IT
Project Manager, I had a
chance to work with a major
financial institution in UK and
was assigned in both in UK
and India. The job allowed
me to manage big budgeted
projects and manage technical
resources based in India, UK,
Spain, and Singapore. With
those credentials to back
me up, I was really confident
that I will land the same job
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY May 1 - 20, 2017
The PursuIT of Job Happiness
and establish myself as an IT
Project Manager in Canada.
Part of the expectation was to
land a job with Accenture here
in Vancouver or any company
that requires PM skills.
PNT: What were your
first jobs?
Since I had a very rich
and competitive background,
in my first few months I was
really choosy in looking for a
job in line with my previous
career and current skill set.
I was interviewed a number
of times, but it was either I
was over qualified or under
qualified. After 10 months
of not having an income,
I accepted a night shift
cleaning job with Tricomm for
the YMCA gym. Fortunately,
after three weeks of doing
housekeeping job, I got
a call from Seaspan Ship
Management
Ltd.(SSML).
SSML found me in LinkedIn
and got interviewed over the
phone and eventually, they
offered me the job. The job was
for an IT Consultant/Project
Team Lead tasked to oversee
the software implementation
in production in Manila. So, I
was given seven days to learn
the system in Vancouver and
then worked with the Manila
team for 4 months – I was
also assigned to work in their
office in Mumbai, India in
between assignments
PNT: Looking back at
your starting point, what
did
those
experiences
enable and inspire you to
do?
I gained a lot of respect
to people who are doing
cleaning jobs, I gained
appreciation of the amount
of work they have to endure.
The experience of doing the
job taught me humility and
although I was prepared to
start fresh career wise, I did
not have the slightest idea
that I will experience doing
manual labor. There were
some moments when I was
at my lowest point where I
was resigned to be doing
housekeeping for the rest of
my stay here, but a part of me
was saying not to give up. Now
that I am now in a my chosen
career, I am very grateful for
the opportunity and I don’t
want to lose sight of how I
got started, and I want to give
back for the blessings that I
now enjoy. I look at engaging
to various volunteer works as
a way to pay it forward.
PNT: What volunteer
work do you do as part
of giving back to the
community?
I currently work with
SUCCESS
as
a
resource
person
in
coordination
with Accenture in
a program called
– Career Start. I help
out new immigrants
to break into the
Canadian job market
by mentoring them
in resume workshop
and mock interview by
sharing what I learn
from the past. I also
work with YWCA reach
out program for single
mothers by being a
resource person to
teach IT Applications
– MS Office, LinkedIn,
Social Media, etc.
PNT:
What
steps did you take to
be employed where
you are currently
employed? Describe
to us that journey.
The
Seaspan
project lasted for 10
months and after
that I found myself
looking for a job
again. I went back to
doing cleaning job
again and having job
interviews every now
and then. After 9 months of
waiting, I landed a job with
Accenture through an agency
AppleOne. Accenture was
doing field work for BCHydro
and the job was for a Work
Leader/Scheduler/Dispatcher
in Customer Metering, there
were looking for the 3rd
member to join the team. I
started as a part-time for 3
days while doing the cleaning
job, and while training, I
saw some gaps as well as
the lack of available training
materials specific enough
for the role. So, I started
documenting the processes
to help the project on my own
initiative, and I came up with
a training manual/process
documents capturing days
in a life of a Work Leader/
Scheduler/Dispatcher. This
initiative earned me an award
and created a